[This is an excerpt from the Global Mobility Book. You can find more information about the book and purchase it here: http://www.ilw.com/books/globalmobility.shtm.]

SUMMARY

The United States of America situated mostly in central North America, lies between the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. It is a federal constitutional republic comprising 50 states and a federal district. At 9,826,675 million square kilometers and with over 308,745,538 million people, the United States (U.S.) is the third largest by both area and population. The US Economy is the world's largest national economy. English is the official language.

LEGAL SYSTEM

The U.S. Constitution is the foundation of the country's judicial system. The Constitution created three separate branches (the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches) of government with each one having its own powers and areas of influence. The country is subject to a federal government that shares sovereignty with the state governments. In addition to the federal government, the people are also subject to a state government and various units of local government like counties, municipalities, and special districts.

[This is an Excerpt fromt he Global Mobility Book. You can find more information about the book and purchase it here: http://www.ilw.com/books/globalmobility.shtm.]

SUMMARY

The State of Israel is situated on the Eastern Mediterranean, bordering Lebanon and Syria to the north and northeast, Jordan and the West Bank to the east and the Gaza Strip and Egypt to the southwest. Israel is the world's only predominantly Jewish state, with a population of 7.6 million people, of whom 5.7 million are Jewish. Arab citizens of Israel form the country's second-largest ethnic group, which includes Muslims, Christians and Druze. Israel has two official languages, Hebrew and Arabic.

Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948 and from its inception has been a liberal democracy with a parliamentary system and universal suffrage. The Prime Minister serves as head of government and the Knesset serves as Israel's legislative body.

Whilst Jerusalem is the center of Government and politics, Tel Aviv is the country's capital of business and finance. Israel is considered one of the most advanced countries in Southwest Asia in economic and industrial development. It has the second-largest number of startup companies in the world and the largest number of NASDAQ-listed companies outside North America.

In 2009, Israel had the 49th highest gross domestic product and 29th highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (at purchasing power parity) at $206.4 billion and $28,393, respectively. The New Israeli Shekel (ILS) was announced as one of 17 freely convertible currencies according to the CLS list.

LEGAL SYSTEM

Israel has no written constitution. The Basic Laws however function as an unwritten constitution and in 2003, the Parliament of Israel (Knesset) began to draft an official constitution based on these laws.

Israel's legal system combines English common law, Civil law and Jewish law. It is based on the principle of precedent and is an adversarial system, where the parties in the suit bring evidence before the court. Court cases are decided by professional judges rather than juries.

[This is an Excerpt from the Global Mobility Book. You can find more about the book and purchase it here.]

SUMMARY
As a nation of some 22 million people, Australia's Migration Program is part of "nation building". Only Australian citizens have the right to enter Australia at any time without restriction. All non- citizens must have a temporary or permanent visa to enter and remain in Australia. Permanent visa holders, if they are overseas, must have a visa to re-enter Australia.

LEGAL SYSTEM
Australia's immigration law, legislative and regulatory framework
Australia's immigration laws are highly codified, complex and subject to frequent and ongoing change. The Migration Act 1958 (Commonwealth) contains the structure for controlling the entry, stay and departure of non- citizens. The Migration Regulations 1994 (Commonwealth) are subordinate legislation that set out the requirements for entry to Australia and related matters and the requirements of entry through the operation of a visa system that acts as a screening process to manage the movement of non-citizens across Australia's borders.
The legislative framework consists of over 3,000 pages. It is underpinned by layers of regulation and sub-delegated legislation (Ministerial Directions, Legislative Instruments and such like). There are 140 visa categories and nine bridging visa categories.
The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship is the authority given the statutory discretion and decision-making powers under the regulatory scheme. It is entitled to adopt policy guidelines governing the exercise of that discretion.
The Department's policy documents contain detailed and extensive guidelines for its officers on all aspects of the legislative and regulatory scheme. These guidelines are over 16,000 pages and are subject to ongoing change.
The Department receives over 13,000 applications each day worldwide. In the financial year
2011-2012, it raised revenue from visa fees of about $1.17 billion.
Immigration law is a specialization of Australia?s administrative law. Yet, most Registered Migration Agents (RMA?s) are not lawyers. Nonetheless, they are able to provide advice and assistance in respect of a legislative scheme, which is second only to the complexity of the Australian Taxation Act legislative scheme.

The Role of the Department
The Department has responsibility for the administration of the legislation scheme and the Government's policy under the direction of the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship. It manages, administers and provides advice on migration and humanitarian policy, border control and security, Australian citizenship, multicultural affairs and settlement services. In addition to issuing visas to those entitled to lawfully enter Australia, it has a significant budget to prevent and deter non-compliance with immigration law. The Department has over 7,000 staff working at about 14 locations in Australia. It has offices in some
60 countries, which are usually attached to an Australian Embassy, Consulate or
High Commission.
Australia's Migration Program
The Australian Government determines the size and composition of Australia's Migration Program. The Migration Program focuses on Skilled, Business, Family and Humanitarian outcomes. For the year 2012-13, the Migration Program will provide for 190,000 places with a particular focus on the Permanent Skilled Migration Program. The Migration Program increasingly aims to meet Australia's population and skilled labour force needs, given the ageing of the Australian population, zero population growth and declining workforce participation.

VISAS
The Migration Regulations 1994 lists the visa subclasses which are divided into Permanent, Temporary, Bridging, Protection, Refugee and Humanitarian classes. The classes consist of a number of visa subclasses.
Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations 1994 sets out how a non-citizen must apply for a visa of a particular class. This includes the fees, the forms and the documentary evidence to support the visa application.

Temporary Visa
There are a number of temporary entry visas for skilled persons who will benefit Australia by contributing to the economic development of the Australian community.
On 24 November 2012, the Subclass 457 Business (Long Stay) Temporary Visa Program became known as the Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) Visa. It enables Australian and overseas businesses to sponsor skilled overseas workers to work in Australia for that business on a temporary basis for up to four years. The principles governing the entry of temporary residents are based on the premises that the employment of Australian residents is a first priority; temporary residents should not result in a financial cost to the Australian community and the temporary residents should eventually be replaced by people recruited and trained locally and that the terms and conditions of employment provided to the temporary residents must be no less favorable than those provided to an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident to perform work in an equivalent position in that business's workplace.
The subclass 457 visa is demand-driven. It may either continue to increase in response to industry demands; may stabilize or reduce in number.

Subclass 457 Standard Business Sponsorship Requirements
There are three main steps in the approval process for an overseas skilled worker as set out below.

Sponsorship Application
The employer must lodge a sponsorship application and demonstrate that it is of good standing, it has a strong record of, or commitment, to, employing local labour and non-discriminatory employment practices; and it meets the training benchmark as part of its commitment to the ongoing training of their Australian citizen and permanent resident staff.

Nomination Application
The employer must lodge a nomination application which meets the following requirements:
The nominated position the company is seeking to fill must be on the
Consolidated
Skilled Occupation List (CSOL);
The base salary must meet or exceed the Temporary Skilled Migration Income
Threshold
(TSMIT) which is currently $51,400 gross per annum in addition to superannuation for a
38 hour week;
The Market Salary Rate must be met for that position, namely the terms and conditions of employment of the subclass 457 applicant cannot be less favorable than those provided to Australian staff for the same position at the same
workplace;

The position must meet the minimum skills threshold for that occupation. Details of the person nominated to fill the position must be provided.

Visa Application
The person nominated to fill the position must lodge a visa application and demonstrate that they have the skills relevant to the nominated position; establish that he or she is offered employment at the relevant Market Salary Rate (which cannot be below the current TSMIT of $51,400 per annum). If necessary, the foreign national must provide evidence that he or she has vocational English and provide skills assessment, if required.

Sponsorship Obligations of Approved Sponsors
Once a sponsorship is approved, as the approved standard business sponsor, the employer must meet its sponsorship obligations relating to sponsored workers who hold subclass 457 visas....

[This is an Excerpt from the Global Mobility Book. You can find more about the book and purchase it here.]

Have you ever wondered how you can create 50 million jobs globally with just one swift movement of your pen?

The volume of the relocation of expert?s is estimated to reach 3.5 million globally by 2015. This phenomenon, known as global corporate relocation, has become a routine practice which enables all kinds of experts and essential professionals to be relocated from their countries of residence to another country for a limited period of time, in the course of their work. The draft proposal of the Global Corporate Relocation Treaty provides a global solution for the problems that impede the corporate relocation process throughout the world. The proposed treaty introduces a world-wide approach for the relocation of experts which facilitates the transfer of all kinds of knowledge and know-how in multi-national corporations, and throughout the business sector.

The draft proposal of the GCRT has been adopted by the International Bar Association Global Employment Institute (IBA GEI), for further development by a dedicated sub-committee chaired by Graeme Kirk. The IBA GEI has called upon the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for consideration of the GCRT based on a signed MoU for cooperation on migration and several other issues, and is now awaiting a reply.

The draft of the GCRT was initiated and is being led by Tsvi Kan-Tor with the objective of increasing compliance and business transparency through the following goals: to establish legal standing rights to any foreign business entity regarding experts? relocation, set global legal principles and guidelines through recommended best practices and ensure unification on consensus issues. The principals set forth in the GCRT encourage transparency, flexibility and stability in relocation practices which enable the signatory countries to know the procedures in advance while maintaining and protecting their core legitimate interests. The treaty will also provide a flexible platform to facilitate specific arrangements on non-consensus issues between any group of countries through the use of protocols and multi-lateral agreements.

In recent years, global corporate relocation has expanded at a rapid pace, reaching new and previously unseen levels of about 2.3 million experts per year. To date, each country in the world has its own laws and regulations over the issuance of work permits to foreign experts and managers. In the absence of a treaty regarding corporate relocation, any company that wishes to relocate experts may face difficulties and unknowns throughout the process.

The GCRT will not only minimize these risks and lay the foundation for the creation and realization of business opportunities; it will also foster the creation of 50M jobs worldwide. (Research indicates that 15 jobs are created in the country of destination by each expert transferred, and also aids in job creation in the country of origin and third countries.)

Any comments and insights regarding this venture are important and valued by the sub-committee. If you would like to become involved in the GCRT, or for further information, please contact Graeme Kirk, gdk@Gross.co.uk, or Tsvi Kan-Tor, tsvi@ktalegal.com.

[This is an Excerpt from the Global Mobility Book. You can find more about the book and purchase it here.]

SUMMARY

Argentina is a federation of 23 provinces situated in South America. The autonomous city of Buenos Aires is its capital and largest city. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by size and the largest Spanish speaking nation. The estimated Population is 40,000,000 and it covers an area of 1,068,302 square miles.

LEGAL SYSTEM

Argentine legal system derives from Civil Law. The two principle pillars of the civil system are the Argentine Constitution (1853) and the Civil Code (1871). Argentina's Constitution, like that of most Latin American countries, is very explicit and it is the fundamental source of Argentine law. The Constitution entitles the Congress to enact the Codes concerning civil, commercial, criminal, mineral, labour and social security matters.

The national government is composed of three branches:

Legislative: The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, and has the power of impeachment.
Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military and appoints the members of the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
Judicial: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the president with Senate approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional. There are two court systems, the Federal Court System and the Provincial Court System.

VISAS

The Argentine Immigration Law n? 25,871 was enacted in January 2004 and it guarantees immigrants the right to equal treatment, non-discrimination and access to educational, medical and social services. The Immigration Law sets forth the conditions immigrants must comply with in order to enter and stay in Argentina under four different categories: permanent residency, temporary residency, transitory residency and provisional residency. The regulation of the Immigration law was enacted in May 2010 with decree 616/2010, providing an interpretation and a clearer explanation on how the Immigration Law should be applied by the Immigration Department. Visitors from many countries do not need visas to enter Argentina as tourists (transitory residency) so they can enter the country just presenting their passport at the border or airport checkpoint. Tourist visitors from Australia, USA and Canada are required to pay a ?reciprocity fee? when visiting Argentina as tourists but visas are not required. The authorised stay for tourists is up to 90 days and this term can be extended for another 90 days at the Immigrations Department. For most residencies or visas other than tourist, a formal filing must be submitted at the Argentine Consulates abroad or the Immigration Department, in order to obtain the appropriate residency visa.

Temporary Residency

Temporary residencies are established in provision 23 of the Immigration Law 25,871, where more than 12 different subcategories are set forth, including the employment residency. Temporary residencies are typically granted for an initial period of 12 months, and renewable thereafter in similar increments. Temporary residents have an unrestricted right to work only during the term authorised by the Immigrations Department. Employers who hire foreign nationals without the proper immigrations work permits are subject to fines up to US$ 20,000 approx. per employee as of the date of this article.

Employment Residency

Argentine Immigration Law n?25,871 sets forth in provision 23 item ?A? the employment residency visas a ?temporary residency? subcategory.
The work visas or employment residencies petition scan be processed at the Argentine Consulates abroad with an Entry Permit issued by the Immigrations Department or within the Argentine territory if the applicant has already entered Argentina typically as a tourist or a student, since the regulations do allow petitioners to adjust their status from tourists to workers without having to exit Argentina, in this last case the filing is done directly at the Argentine Immigrations Department in Argentina without the intervention of the Consulates. The physical presence of the employee is required the day the petition is filed since biometric data (fingerprints) will be taken for the issuance of the National Identity Card.
Any employer willing to hire foreign nationals to work in Argentina and sponsor them for a work residency must first be registered at the Registry of Sponsors of Foreign Nationals (RENURE).
In all cases, applicants of work residencies need a ?sponsoring employer? willing to offer them a labour contract which will have to be filed at the Immigrations Department along with the proof of registration of the employer at the Registry of Sponsors of Foreign Nationals. Self-employed applicants are not eligible for employment residency.
Employers sponsoring an applicant for a work residency do not have to go through labour certification (prove that they are not displacing argentine workers) nor they have to prove that the foreign nationals have high levels of professional skills or qualifications needed by the Argentine labour market. There are neither restrictions nor quotas of foreign employees that companies or individuals can hire. Therefore the regulations are quite relaxed in this respect.
Employers who wish to hire foreign nationals, as previously mentioned, must fulfill the registration at the RENURE and eventually immigrations could request the employer to prove sufficient economic capacity to pay the salaries of the sponsored worker. The salaries offered to foreign nationals by the employers must fulfill the minimum salary established by law or by the collective work agreements of the workers union.
It is required that all applicants submit their criminal records background check from the countries where they have lived during the past three years prior to the petition. Names recorded in these records must be complete and stated identically as the names in the applicants? passport.
Translation of documents that will be filed at the Argentine Immigrations Department must be translated by Official Public Translators of Argentina and legalised by the Association of Public Translators in Argentina, any other type of foreign and/or unofficial translations are not accepted.
Something that is worth mentioning is that the Argentina regulations allow the worker to start working right from the first day he or she entered the petition of work residency or visa at the Immigration Department assuming that the petitioner is already present in the Argentine territory. This means that while the file is under review and pending, until a decision has been made, the applicant receives a provisional residency called ?Precaria? that allows him or her to start working right away and to obtain a social security number called CUIL at the local Social Security office called ANSES. If the petition is denied, this provisional authorization will be revoked.
During the processing of the work visa, Immigrations randomly conducts inspections at the employer?s premises to corroborate that the worker is actually fulfilling on site the work relation that has been reported to immigrations with the petition. In the event of inspections it is important that foreign nationals have their proper documents with them: valid provisional residency, valid temporary residency and/or valid national identity card to prove their legal status.
Upon termination of the employment agreement either by quitting or dismissal, the employer has 15 days to inform the RENURE about this termination and the circumstances related to it under penalty of fines and other sanctions.
Sponsoring employers must keep their RENURE registrations up to date and have an obligation to serve notice to immigrations of any change in the work relationship with the worker such as dismissal or quitting. Failing to inform the Immigrations Department of any changes in the employment relationship can result in the cancellation of the registration as a sponsor.
In summary, the steps for obtaining a work residency are: (i) proof of registration of the employer at the RENURE (ii) employment contract (iii) foreign and argentine criminal background check (iv)a proof of domicile. The filing fee of a work residency done within Argentina at the Immigrations Department is about US$ 125/-.
Once filed the work residency petition, immigrations will issue the provisional residency that will allow the employee to obtain the social security number (CUIL) and later on to be registered as the employee of the company before the Tax Agency (AFIP). Once fulfilled the petitioner must inform Immigrations he or she is included in the payroll and duly registered at AFIP, so that Immigrations can grant the residency and after that issue the National Identity Card that will be received via mail in the declared address.
Business Visas

By resolution 1,171/2010 the regulations for foreign nationals who enter Argentina to conduct businesses or market research for investments. These Business Visas are considered to be the type mentioned under provision 24 item H of the Immigration Law.

The type of activities allowed by this Business Visa are making business, trade or financial negotiations and it also includes those entering the country in order to participate in exhibitions or fairs.

The term of stay for these business visas is two months tourist visas and one extension for a term of equal length is permitted, making in total four months stay for the petitioner.

The filing is initiated at the Argentine Immigrations Department Entry Permit Unit by a representative of the immigrant and when the entry permit is issued, the applicant must present him or herself at the Argentine Consulate in the country where he lives, to have his passport stamped. Each Argentine Consulate abroad has some specific procedures that change from Consulate to Consulate on how to apply resolution 1.171/2010, so it must be checked on a case per case basis. The inviting company or institution will be required to be registered at RENURE.

In general, the steps for obtaining a business visa are: ....

[This is an Excerpt from the Global Mobility Book. You can find more about the book and purchase it here.]

H?ctor Gabriel Celano, born in Argentina, graduated as a Juris Doctor from the University of Belgrano Law School. He participated in exchange programs at San Francisco State University where he completed his law studies. After working at top law firms in Buenos Aires, Mr. Celano founded "Celano& Associates", a young and dynamic law firm based in Buenos Aires that for over a decade has been helping immigrants and companies relocate, live and do business in Argentina. Mr. Celano is licensed to practice law in Buenos Aires Capital and Province Districts, he is licensed with the Argentine Supreme Court and he is a registered attorney at the Argentine Immigrations Department